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  • From: Jim <ashevillecurrencyproject@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Kim Stanley Robinson's 60 Days and Counting
  • Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:54:35 -0500

Hi-
I'd like to echo Keith's good words on Kim Stanley Robinson's Global Warming
Trilogy:
Forty Signs of Rain (2004), Fifty Degrees Below (2005), and Sixty Days and
Counting (2007).

I read them in the course of a long week last summer, including, ironically,
long flights to and from California;
and not only enjoyed them immensely, but learned a lot. On one level, it's a
basic piece of fiction
(hero tries to fight global warming and win a woman's heart), but on a more
subliminal level, KSR is throwing out
theories (as the scientific geek post-dochero thinks to himself about them)
and themes; as you can see at the end of this post.

I read a lot, including this list :) and was surprised by how much KSR talked
about that we somehow never get around to.

The part that would delight most of us:
The National Science Foundation takes a hard look at climate change, and recommends that a key part of the solution is....
Permaculture

If you're looking for a good holiday present for someone who doesn't want to
hear about all
that eco-stuff, but likes science fiction, this might be a good idea [start
with the first--40 Signs-- they go in order and build on each other)

(And if you're looking for a book peak oil that's blessed by at least one four year old [my nephew picked it out of a whole stack of books for me to read to him], check out Henry Hikes to Fitchburg, by DB Johnson http://www.henryhikes.com )

I got a lot more out of the evolutionary science that KSR referred to by
reading Nicholas Wade's Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our
Ancestors (2006), which let me know that a heck of a lot had been discovered
since I took high school science in the 70's. The author is a NY Times
science writer.
-- Jim

******************
Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2007 22:09:35 -0500
From: Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>
Subject: [permaculture] Kim Stanley Robinson's 60 Days and Counting

Robinson's trilogy of climate change <http://astore.amazon.com/pctradingpost-20?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=31> is one of the more hopeful sets of books currently being read by millions of people. It is described as "Perhaps the most realistic portrayal ever created of the environmental changes that are already occurring on our planet."

The following text is drawn from the blog of fictional President (of the US) Phil Chase, near the end of the book:
*****************************

Below is some text from the wikipedia entry on Robinson:

The "Science in the Capital" series encompasses three novels: /Forty Signs of Rain <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty_Signs_of_Rain>/ (2004 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004>), /Fifty Degrees Below <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Degrees_Below>/ (2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005>), and /Sixty Days and Counting <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixty_Days_and_Counting>/ (2007).

This series explores the consequences of global warming <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming>, both on a global level, and as it affects the main characters: several employees of the National Science Foundation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Science_Foundation> and those close to them. A recurring theme of Robinson's that returns in this series is that of Buddhist <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism> philosophy, which is represented in the series by the agency of ambassadors from Khembalung, a fictional Buddhist micro-state located on an offshore island in the Ganges <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges> delta. Their state is threatened by rising sea levels, and the reaction of the Khembalis is compared to that of the Washingtonians.

In Fifty Degrees Below (page 99) Robinson discusses paleolithic activities that we, as humans, should return to in order to give us happiness, as our brains are hard-wired to enjoy such things:

* walking
* throwing things at things
* having sex
* dealing with the opposite sex
* looking at fire
* talking
* running
* dancing
* singing
* stalking animals
* gathering plants to eat
* cooking and eating
* killing animals for food
* experiencing terror

At a lecture on the Chicago Humanities Festival (Nov 5, 2007) he added a few more:

* making your bed
* looking at the moon





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